I was out back using one of my racks the other day and thought I would toss out there the ideas behind the racks I have. First off, around the body shops across America you will see a zillion of these folding racks.

They work pretty awesome and are super convenient being they fold up and take very little space when not in use.

They come with padding on the top and you can get a sling that goes across too. The one thing good about them that the sling kills is this, you can't cover it with crap like your work bench. Really, how many of us will do this, I know I do, I put stuff on the bench and next thing you know it's covered and there is no place to work. With these folding racks you put larger things on them to assemble, to paint, to cut, to disassemble. It doesn't get covered with tools and soda cans thus always there to use for it's proper purpose.

The bad thing is they do fold up which limits what you can do with them. One day I needed a stand that I could more solidly mount something to work on like sanding filler on a small piece. So I made up these cube stands. I have a great metal supply place where I was able to order 16 pieces of 1/8" thick 1 inch angle iron 36 inches long. I brought them back to the shop and quickly welded them up into these cubes. One of the cubes you will see isn't 36" wide but only 24 I think. I simply bought 12x36" long and 4x24" long.

You can see a couple pieces of pipe welded to the narrower one with washers welded to the ends. I welded this stuff on to bolt something (that something I can't remember for the life of me) to it for painting and sanding. I think it may have been a vintage Harley tank and oil bag but can't remember for sure. Anyway, the other one I had welded on it (small pieces remain) of 3/8" rod with studs at the top to put some Harley fenders on it.

These buggers work darn nice, you can lay a creeper across them for a portable bench to spread out nuts and bolts or something.

OH Boy Brian...I love this stuff...a little over 20 years ago I was living in Northern Alberta and was a rural paint rep, I looked after the body Shops in Northern Alberta right up to the North West Territories..(Yes, I have tee'd off at a golf tournament at midnight on June 21st. in High Level Alberta). I was driving by a Hospital one day and I saw the Hospital guy was throwing out hospital gurney's...I looked at them and asked how many they had and if I could buy them...The guy told me that they had just over 100 that they where getting rid of...I said, seeing your throwing them out, how about I give you $10 each...He jumped at it. When they where folded down, I could load about 10 in my 1/2 ton at a time...I went from shop to shop and sold these Hospital gurney's for $175 each as truck box bed movers...they had the nice big wheels on them so if you took the gurney outside with a box on it it wouldn't get stuck in the gravel...I sold out in less than a week, some shops bought 3 of them...They worked so well, they even had the piece where the head of the bed could be angled up or down, the height was adjustable and darn heavy duty...Made about $20K clear in less than 10 days. I still have several I kept for myself, talk about a portable parts bench.

yesterday I was waiting for a hood and the painter said the stand created an outie and he had to re paint it. So I go to get it today and noticed it was the same stand I saw on line. Here's the ad I saw, it's the same stand.

Anyhow, this $300 stand was bought for the old painter and he didn't try to use it at all, so the new painter found it in the corner of the paint shop, put it together, and says it's a pretty cool stand.

Shu, for $300 I think I'd rather take Martin's route and make my own, but I must say, I like the fact you can spray a hood front to back in one paint application.

OH Boy Brian...I love this stuff...a little over 20 years ago I was living in Northern Alberta and was a rural paint rep, I looked after the body Shops in Northern Alberta right up to the North West Territories..(Yes, I have tee'd off at a golf tournament at midnight on June 21st. in High Level Alberta). I was driving by a Hospital one day and I saw the Hospital guy was throwing out hospital gurney's...I looked at them and asked how many they had and if I could buy them...The guy told me that they had just over 100 that they where getting rid of...I said, seeing your throwing them out, how about I give you $10 each...He jumped at it. When they where folded down, I could load about 10 in my 1/2 ton at a time...I went from shop to shop and sold these Hospital gurney's for $175 each as truck box bed movers...they had the nice big wheels on them so if you took the gurney outside with a box on it it wouldn't get stuck in the gravel...I sold out in less than a week, some shops bought 3 of them...They worked so well, they even had the piece where the head of the bed could be angled up or down, the height was adjustable and darn heavy duty...Made about $20K clear in less than 10 days. I still have several I kept for myself, talk about a portable parts bench.

Ray

I friend of mine worked at a funeral home for a while when we were just out of high school. I went over there once and he had his 29 Model A body on a "church truck" the cart they put the casket on when they roll you into church.

I friend of mine worked at a funeral home for a while when we were just out of high school. I went over there once and he had his 29 Model A body on a "church truck" the cart they put the casket on when they roll you into church.

Brian

And I thought I was pushing the envelope when I re-purposed the hospital gurney's...now that's thinking outside the box...LOL.

The problem with the store bought racks is this. One doesn't help you. When you are building a car, you have at least 2 doors, hood, and deck lid. At best you need 4 of them so 350 dollars becomes 1400. i can't justify that to build a car every 4-5 years. My ceiling is low enough I usually hang them.

I think the biggest regret for most of us who do this for a hobby is not being able to justify first class equipment.

The problem with the store bought racks is this. One doesn't help you. When you are building a car, you have at least 2 doors, hood, and deck lid. At best you need 4 of them so 350 dollars becomes 1400. i can't justify that to build a car every 4-5 years. My ceiling is low enough I usually hang them.

I think the biggest regret for most of us who do this for a hobby is not being able to justify first class equipment.

More so now that I am an old guy and going to die soon.

John

I really push for the best equipment that I can possibly afford. When I remodeled my bath room I went into the hardware store and told him I want you to treat me like a pro when it comes to equipment and I let me make up my mind if I can't afford it. I bought nearly all the very best they had by way of tools and methods and it paid off big time! The way I looked at it was if I was paying someone to do it I would be paying a heck of a lot more so if I am still saving a ton of money I was going to do it with the least back breaking as I could. It worked like a dream.

Those folding racks by the way are available for a LOT less than $350 now! Even the Matco Tool truck had them for about $50 the other day. But a bunch of guys in the shop bought some from another vendor the other day for only $25 each!

And even the other ones have a lot of compitition so the price is way down. Here is one for $159

I really push for the best equipment that I can possibly afford. When I remodeled my bath room I went into the hardware store and told him I want you to treat me like a pro when it comes to equipment and I let me make up my mind if I can't afford it. I bought nearly all the very best they had by way of tools and methods and it paid off big time! The way I looked at it was if I was paying someone to do it I would be paying a heck of a lot more so if I am still saving a ton of money I was going to do it with the least back breaking as I could. It worked like a dream.

Those folding racks by the way are available for a LOT less than $350 now! Even the Matco Tool truck had them for about $50 the other day. But a bunch of guys in the shop bought some from another vendor the other day for only $25 each!

Good equipment certainly makes the job more enjoyable. i have 4 of the scissor style shown below. HF actually sells a cheap version at their store for about 20 dollars on sale but it is made out of (I think) 5/8 inch pipe. They have a better quality one made out of 3/4 pipe that is about 10 dollars more. It is definitely worth the differance when you start to use one for sanding a panel.

I made my own. Go to the hardware store, get some 3/4 metal conduit, borrow a bender for electrical conduit, and bend your own. Drill and bolt them together, get some eye hooks for chains (you can make the chains adjustable for different widths). Get some pipe insulation to wrap on the top and your done. Some of the prices given seem cheap to me. Another plus is you built them yourself, good fun.

I made my own. Go to the hardware store, get some 3/4 metal conduit, borrow a bender for electrical conduit, and bend your own. Drill and bolt them together, get some eye hooks for chains (you can make the chains adjustable for different widths). Get some pipe insulation to wrap on the top and your done. Some of the prices given seem cheap to me. Another plus is you built them yourself, good fun.

You said the prices sounded cheap to you. HF has the 200 lb stand on sale for 18.95 and here is a link to the 500 lb model for 24.95. I just can't justify the aggravation and time to make one when they are this cheap.

For working on transmission's [tear down] my friend & I picked up a stainless table from a mortuary , has sides on the top about 2" high & the table top slopes to the center & has drain hole w/ a catch pan underneath. Paid $ 20 for it cause it was "tarnished" . Also has heavy duty locking casters !

For working on transmission's [tear down] my friend & I picked up a stainless table from a mortuary , has sides on the top about 2" high & the table top slopes to the center & has drain hole w/ a catch pan underneath. Paid $ 20 for it cause it was "tarnished" . Also has heavy duty locking casters !

I can only guess what it was used for !

dave

LOL I assume you are still using it as designed except there are now dead trannys on it.

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